Arrow Producer Teases Aftermath of the Season 5 Cliffhanger
Spoilers follow for Arrow Season 5.
After a rough couple of seasons, Arrow came back in true form during its fifth run. The main villain was great, several of the subplots blossomed organically, and the show felt like Arrow again. Perhaps the aspect of Season 5 receiving the most praise is the finale, or, more specifically, the finale’s cliffhanger.
With his son in his arms, and Prometheus defeated, Oliver seemed sure the nightmare was coming to a close. However, as Ollie continuously failed to realize, Prometheus remained one step ahead. Adrian Chase was willing to end his own life to prove a point. Thus, Lian Yu, along with most of Oliver Queen’s allies, was blown sky high. As the speculation carries on, fans doubt the show will kill its entire cast. According to executive producer, Marc Guggenheim, expectations should be tamed.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Guggenheim suggested actor contracts and the idea of the series regular shouldn’t inform the audience’s Season 6 theories.
“I will say this, in the interest of the whole series regular of it all, I know everyone is trying to determine who survives, who dies, what is the result of the cliffhanger based upon people’s contractual status. I’d say that is not necessarily a good idea. An example that I’d like to point to is, that was true say in The Walking Dead which, you know, they kind of had a season finale similar where you had a group of characters all of whom were series regulars in a dire situation at the end of their season. Just because they were series regulars did not mean that everyone came out of that cliffhanger alive.”
Adrian Chase and Oliver in Arrow’s Season 5 Finale Courtesy of The CW
Does this mean Arrow mainstays such as Lance, Diggle, and Felicity are at risk of not surviving the explosion? It’s hard to say. But expectations should probably be geared in a different direction. Guggenheim added:
“A lot of the discussion that we’ve had and a lot of the discussion we’ve seen online is very binary — people either live or they’ll die. There are other consequences that can come out of what happened at the end of [the finale]. While everyone is focused on one thing, you know us on Arrow, we may be doing something else.”
Maybe a character’s role will drastically change in a manner barring death. The show made it perfectly clear early in the finale that the prison housing Captain Boomerang and Deathstroke was well fortified. Some fans speculate Slade rushed the group to safety. If so, perhaps the consequences of the explosion leaves a few characters wounded, or emotionally scarred. Tell us your thoughts and theories in the comments below.
Arrow returns for Season 6 at its new time on Thursday, October 12 at 9 pm EST.
